Unite calls for action over Agricultural Wages Board

Britain’s biggest trade union is furious with the Government for trying to scrap the Agricultural Wages Board (AWB) with just four weeks of consultation.

According to Unite, without the AWB to negotiate pay and fair housing, agricultural wages will fall to the lowest legal wage possible, as bad employers see this as the opportunity to cut pay and raise housing costs.

Unite is therefore calling on minister to extend the consultation on the future of the AWB to at least 12 weeks,  so that all parties have a chance to get their views across,  stating:

“This is a fight for the future, for agricultural workers and the communities in which they live … join Unite members to secure a decent, fair and proper consultation on the AWB’s future, to save the AWB and to stop the slide into rural poverty.”